# The cicadas are gone! (Uh, what cicadas?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 13, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881 "2004-07-13T13:20:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/1 "2004-07-13T13:20:45Z")
According to MSN, the cicadas are gone. Never got to Philly – did y’all get any where you live? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/2 "2004-07-13T13:23:57Z")
Saw nary a one near home (central Jersey shore). I saw maybe a hundred or so over the course of a month at work (Princeton). Certainly not the invasion that was predicted for the area. :: shrug :: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/3 "2004-07-13T13:37:22Z")
None in Northern New Jersey. I think that all the rain we got, and are still getting, drowned them before they could emerge. Too bad. I love crunching those things. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/4 "2004-07-13T13:48:23Z")
I saw a total of 1 dead cicada. And here in Knoxville we were supposed to be Cicada Central. I was really hoping they’d land on my balcony and annoy the kitties, making them whine with desperation to go out there and GET those annoying bugs. Didn’t happen though. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/5 "2004-07-13T14:05:24Z")
I think I saw 1 here in SE Virginny. Certainly didn’t hear any of them. The last cycle, I was in Indianapolis, and they were deafening there. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/6 "2004-07-13T14:07:52Z")
Ugh, I felt like I lived in Cicada Central. The freaking things were all over, and the noise was unbelievable. I’m glad they’re gone. I was also getting tired of cleaning up dog barf with cicada wings in it. Ewwww! ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/7 "2004-07-13T15:19:54Z")
We were not part of the Brood X area, but we have cicadas constantly in the summer, every year. The sounds of cicadas and red-wing blackbirds just cry “summer” to me! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/8 "2004-07-13T15:24:12Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Ugh, I felt like I lived in Cicada Central. The freaking things were all over, and the noise was unbelievable. I’m glad they’re gone. > > I was also getting tired of cleaning up dog barf with cicada wings in it. Ewwww! Yeah, we certainly had plenty around here. You couldn’t walk down the street without some flying into your face or landing on your clothes. I actually liked having them around. The noise is pretty cool; the drone is actually kind of relaxing. Also, having grown up in Australia where we have heaps of cicadas every year, they just remind me of home and of summer. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/9 "2004-07-13T15:28:22Z")
I saw a shed skin Sunday in central Arkansas. Maybe his clock wasn’t set. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/10 "2004-07-13T15:37:05Z")
We had tons of them. I saw them around, but i never saw actual swarms of them. The constant singing they did was pretty bad though. [http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/michigan\_cicadas/Periodical/Index.html](http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/michigan_cicadas/Periodical/Index.html) I heard mainly the first two songs. Everytime you went outside they were singing it. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/11 "2004-07-13T15:55:36Z")
None in NYC and environs, even though we have lots of parks with forests that have been undisturbed by at least a century. Nice crop of spring peepers in late April and May, though, cheerful little frog songs everywhere 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/12 "2004-07-13T15:58:55Z")
We had tons of them! The noise got so bad that you couldn’t stand to be outside for any length of time. It was neat that they were here, but I’m glad they’re gone. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/13 "2004-07-13T17:02:12Z")
The Indianapolis Star reported they had arrived. Here in Anderson, 35 miles northeast, we never got any. That was strange, for we had a big crop of them 17 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/14 "2004-07-13T17:12:19Z")
There was a stretch on I-95 where I could hear them while driving 70 mph with the radio on and the windows up. I’m NOT exaggerating. Around home, they were pretty loud, but it was easy to accept. We liked making fun of them. They were really dumb – they’d fly right into the side of a house. They flew crooked. They had no sense of danger. I bought a drink cozy that says, “The Cicada’s 2004 East Coast Tour” on it. Baltimore and DC\* got a lot, and I think heading out at about this latitude through Ohio and Indiana. (Like Dayton and Cinci and whatnot). But they didn’t get up into Philly too much, so I’ve heard. * * * \*DC Sucks. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/15 "2004-07-13T18:18:55Z")
I haven’t seen or heard one cicada, so far this summer. Any chance they will emerge in August? Can a cicada’s clock go bad? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/16 "2004-07-14T00:52:10Z")
Eh, I heard 'em. Not overwhelmed with the buggers but I saw them. Not quite the Plague of Locusts we were led to believe was coming. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/17 "2004-07-14T04:04:20Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > Eh, I heard 'em. Not overwhelmed with the buggers but I saw them. Not quite the Plague of Locusts we were led to believe was coming. Damn right. If you paid too much attention to the local news around here back in May, you would have thought that we would be lucky to survive the summer. The way they described it, i was envisioning having cicadas crawling into every orifice as soon as i left the house. If you want something blown out of all proportion, especially when it affects people in the area, you can always rely on Baltimore’s network news affiliates. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Love\_Coffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@Me\_Love\_Coffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Love_Coffee)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/18 "2004-07-14T04:18:53Z")
We had them here in ohio, and they were horrible. I work at a pool, and every ten minutes someone had to take a net to the water and fish at least 100 of them out. it was disgusting. i like the sound they made, but i think that I can stand to wait another 17 years to hear it again 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/19 "2004-07-14T10:56:30Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > If you want something blown out of all proportion, especially when it affects people in the area, you can always rely on Baltimore’s network news affiliates. Psst, **mhendo** , it might snow later. Don’t tell Marty Bass. He might blow it out of proportion. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881/20 "2004-07-14T11:42:01Z")
> [@Me\_Love\_Coffee](#): > > We had them here in ohio, and they were horrible. I work at a pool, and every ten minutes someone had to take a net to the water and fish at least 100 of them out. it was disgusting. i like the sound they made, but i think that I can stand to wait another 17 years to hear it again 🙂 Welcome to the boards, **Me\_Love\_Coffee**! I’m honored you picked my thread for your first post! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cicadas-are-gone-uh-what-cicadas/254881.md?page=2)